<body><div><figure><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=1rNamm_0spow8D900" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=1rNamm_0spow8D900" width="650" height="650" ><figcaption>Michael Thompson (Submitted photo/Mike Thompson) </figcaption></figure> Michael Thompson never imagined himself being where he is now. Being a Michigan High School Softball Coaches Association Hall of Fame member, having his own podcast, being the 22-year veteran of Frankfort’s softball program was never really in the future plans for the fresh-out-of-college, aspiring teacher and baseball-loving Thompson. “If I would have looked back when I was 25 and said this was the direction that I was going to go, I would have said ‘that’s really strange,’” Thompson said. “What’s interesting about life is it throws curves at you, and you just adjust,” Thompson said. Five hundred career softball victories later and countless memories made, Thompson has certainly adjusted to the surprise life threw his way, and he is now relishing the opportunity he has to maintain and continue developing one of the state’s most respected softball programs at Frankfort. Thompson started his teaching and coaching career at Jonesville High School in southern Michigan in 1994. It was always a dream of Thompson’s to coach baseball, but with no opportunities available at Jonesville, he took on the role as the junior varsity softball coach. Michael Thompson's career highlights Michael Thompson has amassed numerous records including: • Won Regional Coach of the Year four times; • District Coach of the Year 14 times; and • Coached 30 All-State honorable mention players along with five Miss Softball Runners-Up. “I didn’t really know a whole lot about the fastpitch game back in those days, but I knew a lot about baseball, and so I was like ‘you know what this is JV softball. I can learn,’” Thompson said. “What I discovered was that the game is really fun,” Thompson said. “The kids are really fun, and I was like you know what, this is pretty cool.” Thompson coached at Jonesville for two seasons before moving to Frankfort to take a teaching position in 1996. At that point, the Panther’s Softball program was under the leadership of Sue Harris and had won a state title in 1990. When Thompson initially arrived, there were no openings to coach softball, so he chose to serve as an assistant coach for the baseball team for six seasons. Harris retired in 1999 and reached out to Thompson knowing his softball background, but he declined the offer because he did not feel ready to take over an entire program. “Sue had talked to me several times about trying to get me because she knew that I had a softball background,” Thompson said. “She wanted me to take over the program because she wanted to know that it was going to be preserved.” Three years later, the Panthers program was struggling and not living up to standard that Harris had hoped, so Thompson finally decided it was his time to take over the softball program. <figure><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=4LnlF5_0spow8D900" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=4LnlF5_0spow8D900" width="650" height="672" ><figcaption>Michael Thompson (Submitted photo/Mike Thompson) </figcaption></figure><h2 class="cci_subhead" title="CCI Subhead"> Joys of coaching </h2> On April 23 Thompson notched the 500 and 501st wins of his career against Maple City Glen Lake. For Thompson, the accomplishment is not just a result of his coaching success, but the people who have surrounded him making the wins possible. “It is a nice milestone,” Thompson said. “I think that the 500 is a very nice compliment to the players that we have, the coaches that we have, and the commitment that we have, the support of parents, and the administration.” “The wins are kind of a byproduct of doing the right thing.” In his coaching career, Thompson has seen a lot of commitment from those invested in the program, and much of that is to the credit of the culture he helped create. “If there is one thing, I’ve learned in my 30 years of coaching it’s that wins and losses are going to come and go,” Thompson said. “If you are in the business of generating good people and getting people to buy into your culture and raise their level of commitment, you’re going to win more games doing that.” “For me it’s like the ultimate compliment,” Thompson said about how people recognize the program’s ability to maximize every player’s potential. “It’s like ‘you know what coach; you guy’s find a way to squeeze every ounce of talent out of your kid’s.’” The most meaningful aspect of coaching is seeing the success of the players each and every day. “My favorite part of coaching is watching the girls succeed,” Thompson said. “There are so many people that are unsure of themselves and lack confidence. Or unsure of how to be successful. Watching the kids learn to believe in themselves to achieve a goal and to follow a process to get to where they want to be. Those things are kind of the satisfactory part of coaching.” One of Thompson’s best memories as the Panther’s head coach was making it to the 2007 state finals. “That team in 2007 was just so committed to winning,” Thompson said. “They were just so compelled to go to the finals. That team worked super hard to get where they wanted to be, and it was such a good blend of talent.” The year before Thompson took over as Frankfort’s coach, the Panthers had a 7-25 record, so for his team to make the finals five years later, it’s something he’ll never forget. After eclipsing the 500-win mark, many members of his previous teams returned home to surprise their old coach, including several players from the runners-up team. “A good testament to how important that 2007 team was to us was this past weekend,” Thompson said. “This past weekend the kids and my coaches surprised me with this really cool plaque for 500 wins and my assistant coach Amber Wilson contacted a bunch of our former players. There were six kids off that 2007 team that came back, walked onto the field with us, and shared in that little award’s presentation. <blockquote> “It’s really emotional for those kids to come back and say ‘thank you coach. We had the best time. It was arguably one of the best times of our lives when we went on our Florida trip and made it to the finals.’” </blockquote> Through the hardships of coaching, it’s the happy memories that carry Thompson forward. “That’s what makes it really fun for me because there are days when things are difficult,” Thompson said. “The memories these guys come back and talk about; they’re just priceless.” <h2 class="cci_subhead" title="CCI Subhead"> Spreading knowledge </h2> With all his experience maintaining and strengthening the Frankfort softball culture, Thompson wants to spread his knowledge to other programs around the state, so he created his own company called Great Lakes Sports&nbsp;Leadership, in which he travels to high schools around the state sharing how teams can improve leadership and develop a strong culture. Thompson also hosts workshops where he meets with coaches to help them partner with leaders on their teams and build up their programs. During January of this past year, Thompson introduced a podcast called “The Leadership Matters Podcast,” where he talked with coaches about leadership, how they built their culture, coaching styles, and what their favorite leadership books are, sharing with listeners what makes good coaches and good programs successful. <blockquote> “The response from that has been really good,” Thompson said. </blockquote><h2 class="cci_subhead" title="CCI Subhead"> Career accolades </h2> Throughout his career at Frankfort, Thompson has amassed numerous records including winning Regional Coach of the Year four times, District Coach of the Year 14 times, and has coached 30 All-State honorable mention players along with five Miss Softball Runners-Up. In 2007 his team set the Michigan High School Athletic Association&nbsp;homerun record with 40 in the season and did the same with RBIs, knocking in 325. Both of the records have since been broken. Frankfort’s teams have always prioritized academics under his leadership and in 2019 his team had the top GPA throughout all the softball programs in the state of Michigan with a 3.94 mark. Their GPA also ranked as the fourth best in the nation. </div></body>

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Michael Thompson reflects on unexpected coaching journey

“That’s what makes it really fun for me because there are days when things are difficult. ... The memories these guys come back and talk about; they’re just priceless.”